Covers are often fitted to housings within assemblies and subassemblies for motor vehicles in order to protect components that have been installed within the housing. For example, a housing may be provided to house electrical components of the vehicle and, following installation of the components, a cover may be fitted over the housing in order to prevent dust or other objects and/or moisture from entering the housing and interfering with the operation of the electrical components.
In order to seal the housing against moisture, a seal, such as an O-ring seal, a rope seal or a liquid sealant, such as a room temperature vulcanization silicone sealant, may be provided between the housing and the cover. A plurality of fasteners are typically positioned around the perimeter of the cover in order to couple the cover to the housing and clamp the cover and housing together to ensure that the interface is sealed around the perimeter of the cover.
Sealing between the housing and the cover in this way may be undesirable, as the additional seal component increases the number of parts within the assembly for the vehicle and the large number of fasteners required to clamp the seal around the perimeter of the cover increases the amount of time required to assemble the vehicle assembly on the vehicle production line.
It is therefore desirable to provide a housing assembly with improved manufacturability.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a cover for a housing within a vehicle, wherein the cover comprises: a cover body configured to cover an opening of the housing and to engage the housing at an interface around the opening, the cover body having a mating surface that engages a corresponding mating surface of the housing so as to form the interface; and a heating element embedded within the cover body and operable to at least partially melt a portion of the cover body, such that the portion of the cover body deforms in order to conform to an interface feature at the mating surface of the housing, e.g. in order to couple the cover to the housing and/or to create a seal between the cover and the housing.
The interface may extend at least partially around an edge of the cover body. The heating element may be embedded at the edge of the cover body, e.g. around a perimeter of the cover body.
The cover may be configured such that the portion of the cover body that is to be at least partially melted by the heating element extends along a length of the interface, e.g. along substantially the complete length of the interface, when the heating element is operated. In some arrangements, the portion of the cover body that is to be at least partially melted may extend around, e.g. substantially completely around, a perimeter of the cover body.
The portion of the cover body that is to be at least partially melted by the heating element may have a greater thickness than an adjacent portion of the cover that is not to be melted by the heating element.
The heating element may comprise a resistive wire embedded within the cover body. The ends of the resistive wire may extend outside of the cover body, e.g. at an edge. The resistive wire may comprise a first portion having a first diameter and a second portion having a second diameter. The first diameter may different from the second diameter. For example, the first diameter may be larger than the second diameter.
The cover may comprise a further resistive wire. The diameter of the further resistive wire may be different from the diameter of the resistive wire. The further resistive wire may form a further heating element of the cover.
The cover may further comprise an insulating element adjacent to a portion of the heating element. The insulating element may be configured to reduce heating of the cover body by the portion of heating element or further heating element, e.g. in a region adjacent to the portion of the heating element or further heating element. The insulating element may be embedded within the cover body. The insulating element may substantially surround the portion of the heating element, e.g. forming a sheath.
The insulating element may be provided at or adjacent to a location at which the heating element extends outside the cover body. In other words, the insulating element may be provided at or close to an edge of the cover body.
A perimeter of the cover body defined by the cover mating surface may be non-planar, e.g. the perimeter may not lie in a flat plane. For example, the perimeter and/or the mating surface may comprise steps, ramps or curves that depart from a flat plane.
A housing assembly for a vehicle may comprise the above-mentioned cover and the housing.
The interface feature may comprise a depression configured to receive the deformed portion of the cover body when the cover body deforms. The interface feature may comprise a key feature configured such that the deformed portion of the cover body is retained at the interface feature, e.g. after the deformed portion has re-solidified. For example, an opening of the depression may have a reduced area compared to a recessed portion of the depression.
A perimeter of the housing opening defined by the housing mating surface may be non-planar.
A vehicle may comprise the above-mentioned cover or the above-mentioned housing assembly.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method of sealing a cover to a housing within a motor vehicle, the method comprising: providing the housing, wherein the housing comprises an interface feature; providing the cover, wherein the cover comprises: a cover body configured to engage and cover at least a portion of the housing; and a heating element embedded within the cover body; and heating the cover body using the heating element, such that a portion of the cover body at least partially melts and deforms in order to conform to the interface feature of the housing.
The step of providing the cover may comprise supporting the heating element within a mould and moulding the cover body in the mould.
The heating element may comprise a resistive wire embedded within the cover body. The step of heating the cover body may comprise applying an electric current to the resistive wire.
Alternatively, the step of heating the cover body may comprise inducing an electric current within the resistive wire using an electromagnetic coil arranged outside of the cover.
The heating element may comprise a further resistive wire embedded within the cover body. The step of heating the cover may comprise applying a further electric current to the further resistive wire. Alternatively, the step of heating the cover may comprise inducing a further electric current within the further resistive wire, e.g. using a further electromagnetic coil. The magnitude of the further electric current may be different from that of the electric current. For example, the magnitude of the further electric current may be greater than the magnitude of the electric current.
The method may further comprise applying a force to the cover to press the cover against the housing whilst the cover is being heated. The force may be applied to the cover by providing a pressure difference between an inside of a housing space defined by the housing and the cover and an outside of the housing space.
The method may further comprise rapidly cooling, e.g. quenching in a fluid, the cover following deformation of the cover body portion. Quenching the cover may improve the material properties of the deformed portion of the cover. Furthermore, quenching the cover may reduce the time taken to complete the process of sealing the cover to the housing.
The method may comprise re-heating the cover body using the heating element, such that the portion of the cover body conforming to the interface feature at least partially melts. The method may further comprise removing the cover from the housing.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method of detaching a cover from a housing for an assembly of a motor vehicle, wherein the housing comprises an interface feature, and the cover comprises: a cover body configured to engage and cover at least a portion of the housing; and a heating element embedded within the cover body, the heating element having been operated to partially melt a portion of the cover body, such that the portion of the cover body has deformed to conform to the interface feature, wherein the method comprises: re-heating the cover body using the heating element, such that the portion of the cover body conforming to the interface feature at least partially melts; and removing the cover from the housing.
To avoid unnecessary duplication of effort and repetition of text in the specification, certain features are described in relation to only one or several aspects or embodiments of the disclosure. However, it is to be understood that, where it is technically possible, features described in relation to any aspect or embodiment of the disclosure may also be used with any other aspect or embodiment of the disclosure.
FIGS. 1-3 and 5 are drawn approximately to scale. However, other relative dimensions may be used if desired.